John52

I need to buy new tires for my 1992 C2. (993 cups 7 & 9).
Looking at previous threads it seems that changing the fronts to 225/45 vs the original 205/50's seems to be the way to go. Is there any downside to moving to a wider front tire on the C2?

Red rooster

What width fronts do you have ? Mine are 7.5 inch wide so 225s are right .
Worth a look ?

Geoff

ilko

I have 7" wheels at the front and run 225/45 tires. No problems and no rubbing after a day of Auto-X and a day at Lime Rock.

R6XTERRA

Don't mean to hijack, since we are on the subject........

My brother has an 04 996 with My 02 wheels which he is selling me. I hope Marc Shaw can chime in here.

His front I know will fit without a problem. The rears I am a little woried about. They are 10" ET65 which will work with a 21mm spacer as I am told. BUT, He has 285 30 18's on them. Will I have to change them out for 265's? or will they squeeze in there? Can I go with a smaller spacer and the larger tire?

Jeff

Slantnose!

Yeah, it works fine.
Only difference is you slightly feel the larger tire...like when it follows the road ruts some.
Looks great though...

bawmnot

This is one aspect of my 91C2 I really wish I could change easily - i do a lot of driving on bumpy backroads and feel the steering being pulled by the road surface quite often. Would this be largely removed by switching to 205s on the front? - or do all 964s do this to some extent, and the larger front tyre just magnifies it?

I guess I'm used to driving cars with much smaller tyres, and can live with this behaviour in light of the massive positives in driving these cars, but it would be great to get rid of the wandering steering if poss.

Cheers

Andrew.

Slantnose!

I can only speak from my experience with my RSA...
However, with the stock 205's, the steering wheel seemed to 'dance' in my hands over the stuff that kind-of pulls the car with the wider 225 tires.
I think the front of 964's (911's) are sensitve and all do it somewhat.

R6XTERRA

I wouldn't say its wandering, but very responsive. All I can say is hang on too the wheel. I think that its a great attribute for our cars.

The 205's will take a good portion of the sensitivity away for sure. My old 964 had 225's and I loved it ten times better than my current 964 with 205's. I am changing my wheels out very soon and going to 225's for the front.

Jeff

Computamedic

Some tyre manufacturers say that a 7J wheel is too narrow for a 225 tyre - many specify 7.5J as a minimum. It depends a great deal on the aspect ratio - the taller tyres (i.e. 50 series +) are more pliable in the sidewalls and can accommodate the wider wheel better, the shorter tyres less so. Check with the manufacturer and their specs before committing to a change.

Regards

Dave

Slantnose!

Can always compromise and run a 215.
I did with a 'R' compound and it does everything good.

thedyingiraffe

I have 225 and they do rub. I'm going back to original specs on my next tire change.

C4Russ

According to Adrian Strether's book and recommendations, I put 225/45/17 on the front of my C4. This along with a change in the sway bar did much to move the C4 to a more neutal feel, more turn-in.

Adding that much front tire to a C2 is likely going to make a change in the car's handling and I'd guess not necessarily a good change. I understand the asthetics of a larger tire but for a street driven car, it may not be the best choice.

Mike_964

I had to put on a 5 mm spacer to avoid rubbing when using 225.
I have a C2 and I love the 225/255 setup. With 205 I had massive underster and nearly pealed the thread of on DE events, pushing the frontend around the track, with 225 it's much better.
But it also depends on the tires. With Continental SportContact3 it was a little loose in the back, but after changing to Toyo Proxes its feels much more neutral and evenly balanced.

John52

Thanks for the info so far. I was thinking about buying Michelin PS2's (which accept a 7" rim"). I do find it interesting that some people say they have tire rub and others say no rub. Of course that may depend on the front wheel offset. Mine is 55mm.

FamilyCar

I have 225/45/17 MPSC on 7in oem RSA cup 1s, never any rubbing even w/ unaggressive camber. I never did like the maximum braking available w/ a 205. I too noticed deadening with the wider front. Car later was lowered w/ moton CS, still no rubbing w/ the 225s. Also, I started going to a different shop (TCDesign) w/ a different custom alignment, and the difference is magical, no exaggeration. There's a sort of quickness, lightness, and feedback subtlety, that I never ever had before. My point is that any loss of sensitivity to steering feedback can be more than made up for by correct geometry (in my experience, which isn't a whole lot). It's possible.